TNT Axes Leverage After Five Seasons

After five seasons, TNT has canceled con drama Leverage just days before what will now serve as the show's series finale.

In an announcement posted late Friday, TNT said it was "time to say goodbye." "We are honored to have worked with executive producer Dean Devlin, Electric Entertainment, creators John Rogers and Chris Downey, and all the cast and production crew on Leverage," the statement read. "We look forward to exploring new opportunities to work with them again in the future. We also want to thank the passionately devoted fans of Leverage, who have been the driving force behind its success."

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The announcement comes after months of uncertainty about the show's future. Earlier this month, Devlin addressed the show's loyal fan base directly in an open letter explaining that he and Rogers had crafted the Season 5 finale as if it were the series finale in case the show didn't get a sixth season. "This is not to say we would not do a season six should we get the opportunity," Devlin said at the time. "Everyone involved with the show, from the cast, the crew, the writers and producers, would like nothing more than to continue telling these stories," Devlin wrote. "But, in case we do not get that opportunity we felt that, creatively, after 77 episodes, we owed it to you, our fans, to end the show properly."

The series finale, which will see Nate (Timothy Hutton) & Co. take a case linked to his son's death, was called "one of the show's best episodes" in the announcement for the show's end.

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Leverage debuted on TNT in 2008 and was currently the longest-running original series still on the network. Season 5 premiered to 3.39 million viewers in July. However, the show recently returned on a new night after a two-month hiatus to just 1.91 million viewers.

The Leverage series finale airs Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 9/8c on TNT.

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